My SL Chores

I never have to dust my house in SL, and hallelujah for that. I don’t have to launder or dry clean my pixel wardrobe or polish my pixel boots, and I’m pretty happy about that too. It’s impossible to leave socks lying around, bills strewn across the kitchen table, or dirty dishes piled in the sink, and those are just a few of the ways that SL is superior to RL. (Also, teleport anyone?) But just because we aren’t burdened with the same chores that we have to complete in RL doesn’t mean that there’s no work to be done.

Cleaning inventory is probably the SL chore that we all do most often, and like everything else in SL, there are different ways of tackling that task. Some people tidy up as they go along, deleting notecards and landmarks and the boxes that their clothes came in as soon as they’ve looked at them. These are the Efficiency Experts, who know exactly what they have in every folder and can produce it in the blink of an eye. They often have shockingly low inventory counts, keeping the contents lean by deleting items as they introduce new ones. At the opposite end of the spectrum are the Hoarders, who let things pile up until it becomes unbearable. I’ve known people who became so overwhelmed by the contents of their inventory that they simply abandoned it all together, jumping ship to a new av with a new empty inventory rather than wading through the thousands of folders, objects, animations and gestures.

Anypose Expression HUD

HUD offers options for Eye Control, Expression Control and Hand Control

As a Second Life photographer for several years, I've known the agony of eye control issues. While working with models, I was forced to use prims to direct eyes in proper directions. If I served at the model, I either had to bring on an alt to take the photos or use difficult camera tricks to try to avoid the dreaded crossed eyes.

Mesh, Part 1: The Horror!

Mesh is scary.

It's hiding in the stores, lurking in the shadows of sims, watching you as you try to go about your Second Life in peace. It knows you know it's there, but it doesn't care. It's a demon, poised to take over your screen, robbing you of the prims you've loved while introducing you to new addictions that no 12 step program could touch. Mwahahahahaha!

The real problem isn't that mesh is some evil demon, but that change is frightening. While the photo above has horror elements to it, the fact that the trees and cross are the equivalent of one prim each is rather sweet. Take a minute to look at the textures on the tree in the foreground. Notice the many branches on the tree next to the cross. Intricate designs and beautifully baked textures are just two of the many benefits of mesh in Second Life.

Lannisport Role Play Seeking Role Players

On April 17th, 2011, Game of Thrones made its debut on HBO, drawing 2.2 million viewers to the initial airing. The series, based on the first novel of a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, possesses so many features that encourage creative Second Life role play. It's no wonder, then, that the city of Lannisport would be created in-world.

Lannisport 7 Kingdoms is now recruiting role players. While knowledge of Game of Thrones is a plus, the role play takes place 400 years before the novels and HBO series so it's okay to learn from the basic information and time line cards to create your character. Due to the adult nature of the role play, the sim is not accepting child avatars. However, Lannisport is open to all races, genders and sexual orientations.

If you're looking for a way to add some fun to your Second Life, be sure to check out Lannisport 7 Kingdoms. The role play is sure to be exciting and interesting.

Cockring! at Boots Beach

Dagon Harrison works on his "incarceration" build as Misha Hellershanks and mtd1952 Timeless look on.

A dozen people gather on a beach on a Saturday around an outsized piece of toast bearing the burnt outline of Christ and what ensues? Cockring! Perhaps better known as Primtionary, Cockring! is a game in which the player is given a word and must create a prim structure to communicate the word to the other players. The player who guesses the word first takes the next turn at building. 

Aqua's Liquid Lounge Opens

The Liquid Lounge Pool Filled with Hotness.

As we shared earlier, the AquA Lounge celebrated its fifth anniversary today with parties throughout the day, keeping the club packed for hours. The celebration ended with the opening of the newly built Liquid Lounge, a gorgeous, wet build. DJ Kaj rocked the first hour of the party, followed by DJ Vaan.

InsyX Piranha dances on the diving board while the boys splash in the water.

The event was filled with fun, dancing and conversation as so many who have frequented AquA over the past five years arrived to enjoy the festivities. 

The Contest Board Displays Names of Participants

The opening party included a contest for the best in swimwear or skinny dipping with many hot participants competing for a piece of the L$2000 prize.

Another picture of sexy men in the pool, because you can never have enough photos of hot, wet men.

It is amazing to see a Second Life club hit such a huge milestone and Blithe SL is honored to be celebrating along side so many great people. We want to wish AquA many more years of Second Life success.

Five Years of Aqua

I really wish Blogger would behave and show my pics at proper size. Click to be able to read.

Contrary to what my rez date says, I'm ancient in SL terms. As I was saying at Boots Beach earlier, Karl Dorance and I came to SL at nearly the same time and I distinctly remember dinosaurs wandering the grid. It's hard to believe that nearly 6 years have passed since I was birthed from real life into the wonders of my second life, but it's also a thrill to look back at the friendships I've made and the places I've loved. Aqua is one of those places and the people who frequent it are among the great friends I've made over the years.

We're happy to help Aqua celebrate its fifth birthday with three days of parties and fun. Today was the Pre-Day Bash with DJ Sasch, which filled the club (and apparently melted down the grid since SL is apparently having some massive issues right now). Tomorrow Aqua will have hours of partying fun. Look for the Pre-Friday Bash with DJ Heloq starting at noon SLT and leading up to 4 hours of celebration with DJs Thorn, Sasch, Hotboy and Queen. And, as if that's not enough dancing (our avs are going to get a massive cardio workout tomorrow), the main celebration is followed by an after party and grand opening celebration of Liquid Lounge with DJs Kaj and Insyx. A best in swimwear or skinny dipping contest offers a prize of L$1000. Sunday's Anniversary Closing Party is sure to be a blast with DJ InsyX bringing us great tunes and fun.

The celebration will include spewing sploders, contests, and prizes, so be sure to stop by for hours of excitement and fun.

Kal Rau Mesh Shirts

The more I learn about mesh, the more I like it. I like the way it's textured, its realism, the way it moves with the body. While there are some issues with it (that I'll discuss in a future post about mesh), it brings SL another means to create beauty and a sense of reality.

One creator who has embraced mesh clothing possibilities is Kal Rau. Kal has been designing for years and his innovation and attention to detail has kept his clothing among the highest quality SL has to offer. So, of course, we would expect him to transfer that quality to mesh.

Kal's newest release, these wonderful plaid shirts in mesh, demonstrate just what mesh designers can bring to the grid. They are perfectly textured, available in two sizes and in six different color combinations, and a sexy style that wears the way layer clothing doesn't.

These shirts are available for L$350 each color or for L$1500 for the fat pack of 6. When it comes to style and function, these shirts are a perfect addition to any wardrobe. And, if you're one of the holdouts who hasn't tried mesh anything yet, Kal Rau's plaid shirts are the ideal introduction to an exciting new SL technology.

Attack Of The 7'9" Slider Queens!!

I have an unusual thought to share, today. Contrary to what some people might say, more is NOT always better. More ants do not make a better picnic. More chefs do not make a kitchen run smoothly. Nobody, other than Christopher Walken, actually says something needs more cowbell.

and nobody ever says 'this clown needs more fangs'.

Yet, somehow, when one goes to a gay club in SL, one sees... them. They're all 7 foot 9 inches tall (aka: 100 on the height slider in 'Edit Appearance'), all have shoulders out to there, hips in to here. Pecs you could lose Arnold Schwarzenegger in between, an ass you could bounce a manhole cover off of. A jawline like one of those flying things from Avatar.

I am teh sexxorz, no?

... they are. The Slider Queens.

Now, what do I mean by a slider queen? I got taken to a haute couture in SL event a long while ago, and there was NO arguing that every woman there was beautiful... but they looked VERY different from each other. Raven-tressed beauties with upturned noses, pointed chins on blondes with spikey Susan Powter hairdos, redheaded women who were shorter by a head than anyone else in the room.

But when I looked at the male models who were there, they seemed to mostly be wearing the same skin, the same hair (though some were blonde and others brunette- occasionally even black), and even the same shape. Only the clothes differed.

I found myself wondering- what causes this? Are men just lazier about their look? Is there a simpler ideal for what men SHOULD look like than there is for women, in modern society? Or was it perhaps that in the fashion world, the disparity between the sexes produces bias in what we see and think of ourselves? A friend's theory was that men are simply inclined to a less specific image of what an ideal man looks like, while women personalize beauty due to how society makes them interact with it. I'm not sure I agree with this theory, but it does seem like it should be mentioned here.

Sometimes, I get cynical and think that all the men look the same because there are only four good designers of shapes, skins or hair for men, and when one of them comes up with something good, the other three fall all over each other to imitate it (full disclosure: I KNOW VERY WELL there are more than four good designers working to produce things for men, that was me being cynical!).

Now think about this for a second, Gentle Reader: while I'm sure we all agree that- to pick two actors who are often side by side- Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are both handsome guys, you wouldn't confuse one with the other in a million years, would you? One's taller, the other's shorter; one's blonde, the other's brunette; one's got a rounder face, the other's face is more square... but they're both handsome guys. And neither one looks like Johnny Depp, or Leonardo DiCaprio, or...

Sure, in the RL fashion industry there's a fair bit of sameness- a lot of buffed models, a lot of girly ones- but why does it seem that a lot of gay guys in SL look almost identical?

My theory is that it's probably simply what's easiest. If you're buying a new suit, you pay less to buy one off the rack, but one off the rack is never going to fit you as exactly as one you had tailored... which cost a lot more money.

I've always been a great advocate of the DIY school of fashion, in SL. I'll buy a shape or outfit that looks good to me, by all means- but it will get a serious tweaking before I wear it out in public. Why are so many men OK with looking exactly identical, when ducking into the appearance menu and raising or lowering the tip of your nose can produce a thoroughly different face? I've never understood this- then again, I recently put on the first shape I bought (saved on my initial rez), and was startled by how completely different I look now. I've gone from the Terminator to Dana Ashbrook, by way of David Bowie, Gabriel Byrne, Brian Molko and Tom Sturridge, in 50 easy and tiny steps!

Part of what I find eyerolling about this, by the way, crops up when visiting the gay cruising hangouts in SL. Yes, I do pop up at such places from time to time. Yes, I even talk to people there. I even go home with them sometimes... but I do often find myself thinking 'they all... look... the same...' This, then, is the Slider Queen: a guy who maximizes (or minimizes) sliders according to some ideal of masculine beauty that would not only be very hard to attain in the real world, but would not be particularly stable either in not snapping under the weight of the rest of it, or in keeping from constantly wrestling with illness.

When I visit places full of guys cruising for sex, everybody has shoulders All The Way Out To There, a waist All The Way In To That, with a belly Way The Heck In To Here, and a crotch So Bulbous It Looks Like A Root Vegetable. Not everybody's a muscle queen. Not everybody's an ass man. Hell, if everybody was both of those, Elton John wouldn't be married, would he.
It just seems so strange to me that women strive to be unique- and men seem content to look identical. So a challenge to you, guys: save a copy of your shape (tack something like "[unmodified]" onto the end of the name, so you can find it again later if you screw up) and see what you think if you broaden your nose. Or make your eyes bigger, chin broader, shoulders narrower... You're allowed to make mistakes- it's how you learn, and if you DO screw up? That's why you saved it with '[unmodified]' on the end- so you can find it and go back to something that was NOT screwed up. Everybody screws it up from time to time.

Bet somebody wishes he could easily re-set that chin slider

While SL is an environment that lets you explore without barriers- where you can meet people you never would've met in RL, talk about anything you like- it's also an environment that allows you to explore physical asthetics and appearances in ways that it's hard to do, in the real world, without lots, and LOTS, of plastic surgery. You should make the most of it, and make your avatar nobody else's avatar!

Free Speech or Hate Speech?

"Censored" sign outside the Fort Des Moines Church of Christ

As a writer and a member of the Second Life press, I value freedom of speech. Censorship limits our personal growth, as we absorb a variety of ideas and opinions and sort through them to form our own. As an agnostic, I value freedom of religion. The ability to choose from a variety of faiths affords the opportunity to find one's own truth and enhances the chance of finding comfort in specific religious beliefs. However, when I see signs with messages posted like the one outside Fort Des Moines Church of Christ, I find myself torn between my belief that a person's freedoms should not be hindered and the activist in me that can only see hate in the message that gay is not okay.

This sign became newsworthy after a Fort Des Moines, Iowa resident took a photo of it and posted it on Facebook. Outrage over the message led to a barrage of angry comments to Reverend Michael Demastus and to the church's Facebook page. Gay rights advocates have chosen to protest tomorrow's service at the church.

Mr. Demastus has changed the sign to say "Adultery is Not Okay," although he is continuing with his anti-gay sermon. According to one source, Demastus changed the sign after recieving a message with his home address saying, "I hope you feel safe at home." I feel for him. I really do. I, too, have been forced to keep my sign changed in real life so that I can feel safe at home. I, too, have known the fear that someone may bring harm to my family if my sign speaks my truth. The sad thing is, my sign speaks only love where Demastus's sign supports hatred. The irony is bittersweet.

So, as I consider when free speech crosses the line, I feel that it crosses the line when it promotes hatred from either point of view. The lesson I see here is that, when we present ourselves with a message of hate, we open ourselves up to the same hate. Mr. Demastus would like to ensure that we all live in the closet that I know so well, and by presenting that argument to the world, he faced a backlash from those who refuse the claustrophobia. Might I suggest to Mr. Demastus that, next Sunday, he read through the actual words of Christ (many Bibles highlight Jesus's words in red, and as Jesus so famously said about homosexuality, "_________________________".) and put up a sign that may be more appropriate to the true message he should be preaching:

Freebie Friday!

Hello folks, Nath here again. Merrick and I were talking about forthcoming columns and it occurred to us that, what with the stereotyped perception of gay men being clothes horses, it might be useful to help our readers find good clothing. There's a lot of bad freebies out there, it bears note- some of the worst being what we're handed by Linden Lab when we first rez.

Yes, we all have these outfits. No, nobody really likes them.

But because of how advertisment and promotions work in SL, there are several ways to get nicer freebies than these, with very little effort. Several clothing designers have a section of clothing they deliberately offer for free, to let you see what you think of their offerings. Others have lucky chairs, midnight mania boards- all ways to get more avatars into their shops to look around, and while some shops treat their freebie boards/chairs as a place to offer something substandard for free, there're plenty of shops who offer nice things for free on their lucky chairs- simply things that are a bit dated, or no longer selling as they once did.

However, on this Freebie Friday, we're going to focus on another means by which designers give away their goods for free: the hunt. In a hunt, one person gets several vendors together (sometimes more than a hundred), and gets them each to donate an item. They place the item and the LM for the next shop in the hunt in an Easter egg, which is then hidden in the shop. A lot of hunts will have a web page where hints or updates about the status of the hidden prize can be posted- as well as SLURLs so you can go to a specific shop if you want. Some bloggers put together a page where photographs of the items they've found can be shared, too.

This week, we're going to talk about the Jack or Jill hunt. This hunt is organized by Depraved Nation. It started with 50 shops in it, and the male path (this is a hunt with a gift for the ladies, and a separate gift for the men) currently has 48 vendors. There are a lot of very talented folks offering things for the hunters- including a full shape and skin! The 'easter egg' you're looking for is a small gray disc with a male symbol (♂) on it, and there are hints at http://depravednation.com/jack-or-jill for the various locations in the hunt.

Everything in this picture is from the hunt:

What, doesn't everyone put on a mohawk to go skiing?

Skin & shape: Michael, from Ispachi
Hair: Destroyer w/ Razored Hairbase, from Raw House
Sunglasses: Sofian Mesh, from Kumaki Glasses Style
Jacket: Down Jacket, from Gabriel
Shirt: Drape Shirt (brown), from Gabriel
Scarf: Scarf Be Men, from *** Just You Jewels ***
Pants: Solemn Jeans, from Travisty
Belt: Belt-Duality *MESH*, from [ JP ]:dsg.
Shoes: Fulham Riding Boots, from LOORDES OF LONDON

The hunt starts at Razorblade Jacket's shop, and continues through several others- Gabriel, Nikita Fride, Ispachi, to name some of my favorites. You can get to Razorblade Jacket to start the hunt by clicking on this SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Depraved%20Nation/140/157/70 There are a wide variety of designers in the hunt, and quite a lot of terrific gifts they're sharing with the hunters. If you're looking for a new skin, new shape, new eyes, or winter clothes- and especially if you're looking for free ones- I really recommend participating in this hunt!

Gacha!

What's a Gacha? Well, a picture's worth a thousand words:

When I was 4, this in RL plus a quarter was the ONLY reason to go to the grocery store.

When I see one of these in Second Life, I feel like a kid at the front of the grocery store,  rich with a WHOLE QUARTER and just hoping that the gumball that pops out will be a green one. Really. These machines do weird things to me. I feed them with a compulsiveness that even outranks my sploder compulsiveness. I love Gacha's. 

Why do I love Gachas? Well, another picture's worth another thousand words:

HEY KID! DON'T YOU LIKE CLOWNS?

I found myself at Cracked Mirror tonight while I wandered SL in search of a blog subject. Something about that name has drawn me to the store before, but I apparently didn't see the beautiful machine parked near the front window the first time. This time, though...this time the Gacha's siren call drew me in, not that I'm complaining. I fed the machine my 50 Lindens and got this beautifully created tee with a design that feeds into countless Saturday night inside jokes. Even without Krinkles the Clown's mug (click with caution; we cannot be held responsible for link-related nightmares) as part of the design, this shirt is to die for. Okay, that's probably not the most ideal phrasing in a sentence involving Krinkles. The Gacha has a variety of shirts that may dispense when you insert your quarters and each is high-quality and unisex, so if clowns aren't your thing (and why would you have a CLOWN in your bed?) you have a chance of getting another cool design as well.

Because I'm feeling generous (and a bit sadistic), I'll cover a Gacha play at Cracked Mirror for the first 2 people who comment here with the correct phrase to fill in the blanks from Krinkles' pitch: The best breakfast _________________ is Post Sugar Rice Krinkles. Good Luck!

A Small Step in the Right Direction

I love this photo of me with Case because it shows our rings together. Although we haven't had a marriage ceremony yet, we are strongly committed to each other. According to Linden Labs, we are as partnered as we can get. My name is in his partner box and his name is in mine. While Second Life doesn't offer many special benefits, we know that our partnership is equal to that of any other couple in SL in the eyes of the Labs.

Today, the United States has taken a small step in the right direction when it comes to creating the same marriage equality we've known for ages in Second Life. A federal appeals court ruled California's Proposition 8 (Prop 8), an amendment to the state constitution that eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry, unconstitutional. This ruling upheld District Court Judge Vaughn Walker's August 4, 2010 decision that Proposition 8 was a violation of the Constitution's Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment (http://www.prop8trialtracker.com/). As the court stated in their ruling, released today, Proposition 8 serves only to discriminate against gays and lesbians by denying them "state legitimitization and societal recognition of their committed relationships."

The court's decision does not mean that Great Grandpa Bill and Great Grandpa Frank can finally walk down the aisle to legalize their 40 year commitment to each other, however. A stay preventing marriages in anticipation of an appeal is in place. Proposition 8 proponents have already expressed their desire to appeal the ruling, keeping committed gay couples in limbo.

History isn't made overnight, however. We are moving forward in our quest for equality with each battle won. This decision is certainly worth celebrating as we prepare to continue our fight for basic human rights so our real life partnerships will be granted the same beautiful equality we've been blessed with in Second Life.

For further reading, please check out the following blog, which does a beautiful job of analyzing the court's decision: http://www.towleroad.com/2012/02/9thanalysis.html

Lazy Monday...

...and I really didn't accomplish much of anything other than breaking the kiosks and somehow fixing them again. The kiosks now have a button that will bring you to this website, although, if you're here you probably don't need help getting here...

We'll be back tomorrow with a more useful post.

Mardi Gras at Myst and Necklace Sale

The Mardi Gras party at Myst Beach Club is sure to be a perfect end to your Super Bowl Sunday. Join DJ Colton and dancers Donnie and Chaz as the Mardi Gras hits the beach. Be sure to dress in your Fat Tuesday best, because a prize of L$1k will go to the costume contest winner. The party starts at 8pm SLT. Don't miss it!

And for those who are looking for a great deal on a beautiful accessory, I picked up this beautiful necklace at A:S:S, priced at just L$50 for Lazy Sundays.

This gorgeous necklace comes with both female and male versions in the package. Resize and texture change functions are controlled by an easy to use HUD, which includes six lovely texture options. The textures coordinate wonderfully with many of the items in the store, so be sure to check out the other items for sale. You might just find several items you can't live without.

Hat Hair is Not Your Enemy.

Hat Hair is Not Your Enemy

Hi, I'm Nath, and I am a hairaholic

(Hi, Nath). 

I have far too many different hairs - and the ones I wear most often, I usually have three versions of: one that I have done nothing with, one sized to fit properly on my avatar's head, and one which I have edited to make into hat hair. The purpose of this article is to teach you how to easily make your hair into hat hair. After all, if the hair is hidden by your hat, why waste the Avatar Rendering Cost on flexy prims and hidden locks?

I'm going to assume you already know how to size a hair up or down - just like any prim / multiprim object. If you need help with that, there may be another column coming!

In RL, hat hair is what happens when you've been wearing a hat for a while, and your hair's gotten disheveled by the hat. It has a very different meaning in SL, though!

What is hat hair?

This is NOT Hat Hair

This is not hat hair. See how there's hair poking through the hat everywhere?

This IS Hat Hair

This is hat hair. While it looks a little weird without the hat on, notice how none of the prims are poking through the hat? It is a little finicky to make hat hair, but once you've made it, you can use it with all kinds of different hats.


STEP ONE:
ALWAYS DO THIS WHENEVER YOU DO ANYTHING TO EDIT YOUR HAIR. ALWAYS DO THIS.

First thing, copy and paste the hair into your inventory. Let's say you're using EMo-tion's hair 'Rick', like I am in this tutorial. First thing to do is copy it into your inventory- then rename it. I name one copy (it doesn't matter which one), 'EMO-tion Rick [unmodified]'. This way, if I completely screw up the hair resizing or modifying it, I have the basic hair to go back to, instead of having NOTHING to go back to.

STEP TWO:
Now, put on the hat you want on your avatar. I'm going to use Hatter is Mad's awesome Mad Hatter hat, simply because it seems appropriate. You'll see some locks poking through near the sash on the hat- especially if you've taken the time to size the hat to fit properly on your avatar's skull (see NOT hat hair example above).

STEP THREE:
Get onto a pose stand- this will hold your avatar still, which you'll appreciate when you are not chasing your avatar's head around to click on your hair.

STEP FOUR:
Now look at how that hair's sitting. See all the little locks poking through the hat? That's not hat hair, not at all! Right-click anywhere on the hair, and select 'edit'. On the edit menu, select 'edit linked parts'. This will let you select individual pieces of hair and modify their position relative to the rest.

STEP SIX:
You have a few choices, now. You can either:
A: select a lock that's poking through the hat and drag it upwards, away from your head, or
B: you can tilt it, so that the lock pokes out at a different angle from beneath the hat's rim. Also, you could
C: move the hair downwards slightly, so that the lock still pokes out as it did, but from below the hat's brim.

I usually combine all 3 methods: on this hair, I moved the bangs down slightly in front, tilted some locks on the side, and dragged locks that were on top up and off.

STEP SEVEN:
Take off the hair. Then, rezz it on the ground nearby. You'll see it there with the locks floating above it. Ensure that the Edit Linked Parts box in your building panel is not checked then select all the floating locks over your hair and delete them.

Voila! Now, you have hat hair. The best part is- you can usually trade one hat for another and another and another, and the same hair will work with them all!

Boots Beach Wiener Party and a SALE!

Blithe SL Magazine will be covering the return of Boots Beach in our first issue, due out April 1st, but I wanted to take this opportunity to let those who may not know about the rebirth that Boots Beach is back. This post will also serve to remind those who may have forgotten that, while sex isn't a Boots Beach thing (and never has been), dancing in the nude is perfectly acceptable. 

This morning, I logged in to DJ Spike Clemenceau's Wiener Party halftime notice. Worried that I'd missed the entire event, I checked the map and was thrilled to see several green dots at the beach. While I arrived late in the event, the party was still full of fun, conversation and partial to complete nudity. 

Attendees included DJ Spike Clemenceau; his partner, Onyx Baily; Boots Beach owner, Markus Csak; Misha Hellershanks; Imagine Portland; Carlos Bernstein; Lakpr Freck and more.

Boots Beach has many impromptu parties with a variety of DJs, so if you'd like to be notified of events, join the Boots Beach group or IM me for an invite.  

Before I forget, here's some unsolicited promotion for my favorite store in SL, Gabriel. As part of the Gabriel Winter Sale, you can expect to see 50-70% off several amazing items in the store. Gabriel has beautiful, high-quality clothing that will be sure to make you look fabulous, regardless of where your day takes you. Grab some Lindens and head over for a shopping spree. Gabriel is also in the Jack or Jill hunt (see sign in the left of the above photo) so be sure to look for the prize and grab the fantastic group gifts, too.

Written by Merrick Genesis

Welcome

On January 20th, I said to Case as we explored a sim, "I've been considering starting a gay interest magazine." At the time, it was little more than a half-formed idea, shared to test the idea in my mind, as well as to get the feedback of my trusted partner. Knowing that Case's real life work in publishing might make the prospect of working on a Second Life magazine undesirable, I prepared to hear that he would prefer not to take part in such an undertaking. Instead, he said to me, "You know, I think we can do it."

Those words meant Blithe SL was born. We chose to create this magazine, not for fame or fortune, but for you. With Blithe SL, we want to celebrate what makes the gay community in Second Life so unique. We want to share your creativity and ambition, take part in your enthusiasm and celebrate your generosity. As founders of this magazine, we're looking forward to being part of your Second Life and getting to know you. Thank you for giving us this opportunity.